Employment Outlook

Public Relations Professional

Public Relations Professionals create, execute and analyse the results of information and communication campaigns that improve the community’s view and understanding of organisations and the goods, services or ideas that they wish to promote.

Average wage for

Employment Levels

Around 17,800 people are currently employed as Public Relations Professionals in Australia. This is set to increase to 21,700 people by 2019, according to the Department of Employment.

Employment by State

37.8% of all Public Relations Professionals are employed in NSW. The area with the lowest number of Public Relations Professionals is NT, with only 0.8%.

Gender Split

This is a very female dominated industry with 33% of Public Relations Professionals being male and 67% female.

Age Brackets

The most popular age for people working as Public Relations Professionals is 25-34 years old, with 41.8%. A small percentage (2.4%) of people get into this career path older, aged 65 and over. There is also a number of people who enjoy a career as Public Relations Professionals, with 8.2% aged 20-24.

Hours Worked

Public Relations Professionals work an average of 38.6 hours a week which is 2.3 hours lower than the average for all occupations.

Education Level

The majority of Public Relations Professionals have a Bachelor Degree qualification (66.5%) or are at a Year 12 level (12.4%). 76.5% of people have a Cert III or higher, whilst 23.5% have a qualification which is Year 12 or lower.

Public Relations Professional Duties & Tasks

Plan and organise publicity campaigns and communication strategies.

Advise executives on the impact their decisions will have on public perception.

Create and send out news and press releases.

Research public opinion and analyse the results of campaigns.

Organise seminars, competitions and other special events to promote favourable publicity.

Represent companies and arrange interviews with media outlets.

Promote their organisation by attending events and other meetings.

Commission art and photography for advertorial use.

Work with publicity writers and photographers.

Professional Associations & Groups

*The information provided on this page is from the Department of Employment’s Job Outlook website. All salary ranges are from Payscale. Where jobs are not exact matches, job areas have been used. This information is to be used as a guide only.

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